Has anyone here tried Costco’s Kirkland brand of spirits? I’ve had their beer and wine and enjoyed it and wondered about their booze. I’m willing to give it a try but don’t want to buy such a large bottle (1.75 liters) They have scotch in smaller bottles but I did not want to part with 75 dollars today.

Costco’s spirits, like their beer and wine, are relabeled bottles of brand name alcohols. They have a kirkland signature Macallan for goodness sake. Some of them seem to be “young” alcohols, like I think the Macallan is an 8 or 10 year, and their bourbon is a 3 year version of someone’s usually-5. Their beers are brewed in California and apparently you can go to the brewpub, though I imagine not all their beers are made on that site. Their wines, well I don’t care about wine so I don’t know who makes them, but the bottles say.

Edog, I haven’t tried any of them personally but we’re planning on buying a bunch for our wedding so I’m really going to have to try them soon.

The bourbon I saw today was a 7 year, the scotch 12 and 15. It’s not that I need booze or am concerned about price. I was simply curious. Some things costco does well, and some things not so well. We went today mainly because we were trying to justify renewing. I kind of regret we did. I don’t like buying in bulk and love walking to do most of my shopping.

Pdaddymom – Homemade Limoncello (w/ organic Meyer lemons) and Aranocello with organic blood oranges. I am going to sit on my deck all summer and sip it ice cold. I actually ended up using Sun Liquors vodka since it was the only organic vodka I could find. This stuff had better come out good cause it’s costing a fortune. (Mostly it is for gifts)

I liked the bourbon quite a bit. But I’m easy like that, and not a “connoisseur”. I remember reading a post by someone who was doing some investigating and his theory based on distiller etc is that it was it was re-labeled Knob Creek. (And the vodka is supposedly Grey Goose)

@Cate- i was at costco yesterday and they had large bags of organic meyer lemons…i almost bought some, but couldn’t think what i’d do with them all…can you share your limoncello recipe? maybe i’ll go back and get some if i still have time to let it sit before summer.

i too have heard that the kirkland vodka is grey goose, i like it for cocktails.

Why do they re-label it, rather than selling it under the original name?

I think so they can offer a name brand product and promote it as an exclusive item for members. (Kind of like Trader Joes.) Sometimes it’s just fun to know what the arrangement is, and sometimes it’s nice to know so you can see if its actually a good value, but, for me at least, sometimes its nice to buy weird stuff because it keeps the grind fresh.

“There are 10 licensed distillers in all of Kentucky,” says Jason Brauner, owner of Bourbons Bistro on Frankfort Avenue. “And these 10 distillers produce bourbon for about 300 labels — even including direct to the Japanese market.”

I can confirm that it’s great flavoring for the ganache in dipped chocolates. And for that use, considerably cheaper than Maker’s Mark also available there.

Oh Shelley – If you go could I give you money to pick up a bag of Meyer lemons for me? I’m out (as is my source) and I want some more but am not a Costco member. Even Whole Foods doesn’t stock organic Meyer lemons.